Akshaya Patra Foundation receives $1M pledge from Vista Equity Partners; raises $500K at annual event

SAN FRANCISO (Diya TV) — Vista Equity Partners, the world’s leading private equity firm pledged $1 million to Akshaya Patra over five years to aid in the Foundation’s mid-day meal plan. Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners announced the collaboration alongside Hardeep Gulati, CEO of PowerSchool, and Shridhar Venkat, CEO of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

The pledge was announced during the opening of the new offices of the education-technology firm, PowerSchool.  PowerSchool provides software solutions to schools in over 70 countries, it will continue to hire talent, and expand its presence in Bengaluru, joining eight other Vista portfolio companies with operations in India.

The initial investment will be used to purchase trucks to transport meals to schools in various areas of the country. With $200,000 granted each year, contributions will aid the delivery of meals to 80,000 students per day, and over 18 million meals per year.

“Our culture at Vista emphasizes the importance of positively impacting and engaging with the communities in which we live and work,” said Smith. “At Vista, we invest in the future. And Akshaya Patra’s work does that.  By ensuring that students across India have the nourishment they need to be able to learn, the foundation plays an integral role in the education of Indian youth, and we are honored to help them execute on their mission.”

“We are honored to partner with Vista Equity Partners and companies to continue to ensure that our children are well-nourished, and able to learn,” said Venkat. “This commitment will immensely expand our ability to deliver meals to schools and students across India, and will help us in furthering the mission of serving five million children by 2020”

Akshaya Patra Bay Area Benefit Event Raises $500,000

Over 300 business philanthropic community leaders attended the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s 2017 Bay Area Benefit Gala ^— raising $500,000 for the organization’s school meal program.

Dheeraj Pandey, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Nutanix  was the event’s keynote speaker. Nutanix India employees have volunteered in Akshaya Patra’s Bangalore kitchen and schools.

The event also featured Diane Greene, Google’s Senior Vice President of Google Cloud Business, who accepted an award on behalf of Google. The award recognizes Google as Akshaya Patra’s “Corporate Partner of the Year”.

The annual fundraiser event is organized by Akshaya Patra’s Bay Area Volunteer Chapter led by Advisory Board members.

Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Bengaluru, India.  The organization established its school meal program in 2000. Akshaya Patra Foundation serves wholesome food to over 1.6 million children from 13,839 schools across 12 states in India.

Vista Equity Partners is a U.S.-based investment firm with more than $30 billion in cumulative capital commitments.

PowerSchool is a K-12 education technology provider of solutions that improve the education experience for 100 million students, teachers, and parents in over 70 countries around the world.